Home | Archive | Weekly | Reports

Daily news - 23rd January 2024

UK news

Podcast: Can electronic cigarettes help people stop smoking, and do they have any unwanted effects when used for this purpose?

Among the nearly 100 reviews produced by the Cochrane Tobacco Addiction Group, their review of the use of electronic cigarettes in smoking cessation is now being managed as a living systematic review, with monthly searches to keep an eye on the evidence base, so that the published review can be refreshed as necessary. The review was re-badged as a living review in 2021 and its fourth update in this format was published in January 2024. Here's one of the authors, Ailsa Butler from the University of Oxford in the UK to summarise the latest findings | Cochrane, UK

Let's save lives: Call for drug testing hubs weeks after tragic teen’s death at Glasgow rave

Following the tragic passing of three teenagers at a Glasgow nightclub in the space of a few months, calls for increased prevention measures have become more pressing than ever | Scottish Sun, UK

UK researchers publish first findings on cannabis and Long COVID

The study is said to ‘lay the foundations’ for for further research to explore cannabis as a treatment for Long COVID symptoms | Cannabis Health, UK

Introducing SURE 2.0 - video

In this video we introduce you to the new and improved SURE Recovery app. | SURE Recovery, UK

Doncaster cannabis club owner aims to break drug's 'stigma'

The owner of a new "cannabis club" where members would be free to smoke marijuana has said he wanted to break the "stigma" around the drug. Dan Taylor said he had received a "good response" to plans to open the venue in a former hair salon in Doncaster | BBC, UK

Call for more vapes to be recycled

Councillor Mark Wilkes said: "It isn’t safe to dispose of used vapes at home and we ask people not to put them in their bins because lithium batteries are highly flammable, explosive and polluting." | BBC, UK

Cannabis plants worth £3.6m found by police in Greenock

Police said a large number of cannabis plants were found when they searched a premises on West Stewart Street on Sunday | BBC, UK

Wednesfield raid: Hundreds of illegal vapes found in shop

A licensing review is to be held after hundreds of illegal vapes and cigarettes were found in a shop | BBC, UK

International news

My month in rehab: alcohol was killing me – until I made that crucial call

The crime author Cate Quinn thought she was entering rehab to tackle a nascent drink problem spurred by a family tragedy. The truth? She had never experienced adult life sober | Guardian, UK

Narco-sub with $27m of 'scorpion' cocaine seized in Colombia

A semi-submersible carrying almost 800kg of cocaine, including parcels stamped with a scorpion symbol, has been intercepted by the Colombian Navy | BBC, UK

Medically supervised drug injection facility to open in Dublin

Merchant’s Quay Ireland says location will be safer, and will remove some open drug use and litter from streets | Irish Times, Ireland

The efficacy and safety of medicinal cannabis in adult populations: An evidence review

This evidence review was conducted to inform a Department of Health review of the current Medicinal Cannabis Access Programme on the suitability of cannabis-based products for medical conditions. We found evidence to support the use of prescribed medicinal cannabis for certain conditions for which it is currently approved in Ireland, such as nausea and vomiting in cancer and spasticity in multiple sclerosis... | HRB, Ireland

Libyan anti-narcotics agency pays first visit to the EMCDDA

A delegation from the Narcotics and Psychotropic Drug Control Agency of the Libyan Ministry of the Interior is visiting the EMCDDA today for the first time. The two-day visit is organised under the EU4Monitoring Drugs II project, funded by the European Union. The delegation, led by Major General Khaled Almabrok A. Omar, will meet EMCDDA Director Alexis Goosdeel, as well as staff members responsible for the Reitox network, international cooperation and drug-related security | EMCDDA, Portugal

Sacha inchi: the 'star seed' that symbolizes peace and resilience in the Colombian Amazon

Alternative development initiatives seek to provide sustainable livelihoods to communities that cultivate illicit drug crops because they are unable to obtain sufficient income from legal activities due to conflict or lack of markets, basic infrastructure, or land | UNODC, Austria

Drugs on the front line

The war in Ukraine is fuelling drug use among soldiers, particularly of synthetic substances | Global Initiative, USA

[Open access] Given the risks to mental health associated with cannabis use in youth and the increase in cannabis legalization worldwide and in the U.S., there is a need to understand existing evidence-based approaches to integrated management of psychiatric disorders in youth who use cannabis. This systematic review aimed to appraise the current evidence on integrated treatment for adolescents and young adults with common psychiatric disorders who engage in regular cannabis use | DAD, USA

The vaping warning labels paradox: Encouraging adults, dissuading kids

Getting tobacco vaping warning labels right for both adults and teens has proven complex, as regulators confront two public health challenges: How to promote e-cigarette use as an alternative for adults who smoke cigarettes, while warning teens who use e-cigarettes of the potential long-term consequences, which include nicotine addiction and exposure to toxic chemicals | Medical Xpress, USA

Harvard Health Stands by Misleading Article on Vaping and “Popcorn Lung”

Objections to an article published by Harvard Health saw a tweet taken down and a review conducted. But the article, which misleadingly links nicotine vapes to “popcorn lung” and “EVALI,” remains online | Filter Magazine, USA

Blogs, comment and opinion

Alcohol and drugs rewire your brain by changing how your genes work – research is investigating how to counteract addiction’s effects

Many people are wired to seek and respond to rewards. Your brain interprets food as rewarding when you are hungry and water as rewarding when you are thirsty. But addictive substances like alcohol and drugs of abuse can overwhelm the natural reward pathways in your brain, resulting in intolerable cravings and reduced impulse control | Conversation, USA

Think wine is a virtue, not a vice? Nutrition label information surprised many US consumers

When you reach for that bottle of wine this Valentine’s Day, do you know how healthy it is? Many people have a too-rosy view of the beverage and are surprised when confronted with the facts about it on a nutrition label, according to a study my co-author Natalia Velikova and I recently published in the Journal of Consumer Marketing | Conversation, USA

The Australian Government's new vaping policy should be part of a larger plan towards a tobacco endgame

The Australian Minister for Health and Aged Care, Mark Butler, made a strong push to address the growing problem of youth vaping in his speech at the National Press Club in May 2023. While new approaches to controlling youth vaping are urgently needed, it is critical that policy reforms to end the tobacco cigarette epidemic are also pursued with equal vigour — otherwise we risk shifting people currently using vapes to tobacco smoking. In this article, we argue that Australia should leverage its strong vaping regulation to commit in parallel to an ambitious commercial tobacco endgame to rapidly minimise smoking | MJA Perspectve, Australia

Fatal heroin overdose in Australia in the 2020s

While many other drugs get national attention, a significant number of people still die from heroin overdose | MJA Insight, Australia

Wondering how to talk to your teen about drugs? Start the conversation early, be honest and avoid judgement

With several drug overdoses already this festival season, and recent news of three new recreational drugs identified by the drug checking service in Canberra, many parents of teenagers will be wondering how they can keep their kids safe from harmful drugs | Conversation, Australia

Extend Studio